The Naked Scientists Podcast

This week, how rogue antibodies turned one woman's existence into a living nightmare of delusions, hallucinations and paranoia, we examine the evidence that ME - or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) - might be an autoimmune disease, and why the blues might be down to a hostile immune response. Plus, how tracking eye movements can be used to influence decisions, why remembering causes you to forget, a new 3d-printer inspired by Hollywood's Terminator, and the genetic map of the UK: apparently the Romans didn't fancy breeding with us very much... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Is it a particle? Or is it a wave? This week we're looking at light. From its earliest origins and what it can reveal about the Big Bang, to why Newton prodded his eye with a needle to probe the origins of colour, how the brain decodes the visual world and bionic implants to reverse blindness. Plus, in the news, a revelation in the remarkable colour-changing capabilities of chameleons, how an ultrasound can combat Alzheimer's Disease, and what people do with their fingers following a handshake... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, the world of parasites. We find out what's living in you and on you, how these invaders hijack your immune system and how they can even control the behaviours and body shapes of their hosts. Plus, in the news, the oldest remains of our first human ancestors are uncovered in Ethiopia, scientists weigh a stegosaurus and NASA's Dawn probe reaches the dwarf planet Ceres, but what awaits it there...? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

From Archimedes leaping from his bath shouting Eureka, to Isaac Newton's falling apples and Volta's piles that produced electricity on tap, this week we recreate some of the scientific experiments that changed the way we view the world. Join Ginny Smith and Chris Smith on a journey through two thousand years of discovery that includes bricks on ropes, a singing Solar System, a hydrogen detonation and a spectroscope... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Cannabis is as controversial as it is complicated. Does smoking it cause schizophrenia, and can chemicals from the plant cure cancer? Plus in the news, the new breed of chemicals that are putting our ozone layer at risk and why teenage sperms are more likely to be mutants. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, how we're haemorrhaging personal information through our smartphones. We hear how snoopers can eavesdrop on your mobile signals while you're out in public to track down your home address. A computer scientist tells us what he discovered on a bunch of second-hand mobile phones picked up off eBay, and the website that grades the threat's you face from any app yu install. Plus, the stories making the headlines from the world of science and technology, including figuring out how much dark matter is in the Milky Way, and a breath test to diagnose Parkinson's Disease... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, how to hack online dating, the way to maximise your chances on that crucial first date, what makes couples compatible, and the giveaway signs of fertility in the female voice. Plus, in the news, how late-night texting and Facebook-checking is affecting the sleep of young people, the Dutch chimps that now speak Scottish, and why chemistry teachers have a lesson to learn about one of the world's most popular classroom experiments... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, why we're passengers in our own bodies, outnumbered by our resident bacteria. We explore how these bugs can alter your brain and behaviour, and "trans-poo-sion": the poo-transplant process that might save your life! Plus, why the chances of ET existing have rocketed this week, and signs that birds count the same way we do... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Last year, 100 million tonnes of plastic were produced by industry. At the same time sufficient waste plastic was found floating in the world's oceans to make a string of bottles long enough to make it to the Moon. This week we find out what plastic is, how it is made, how to recycle it and why, in the future, it might literally grow on trees. Plus, reading Roman scrolls buried 2000 years by a volcano, how the magnetic history of a meteorite sheds light on the early Solar system, and an antidote to radiation... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Most people spend around a third of their lives asleep, and yet we know almost nothing about what goes on in the land of nod. So this week we're going "under the covers" to investigate the science of sleeping including hearing from sleep talkers, probing the world of lucid dreaming and finding out what sleep deprivation does to the brain. Plus, in the news, the missing Beagle 2 probe is pinpointed, how the ingredients for life on Earth could have been cooked up in comets, and the computer that knows you better than your best friend... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Are you sitting comfortably? You might want to stand up, because we'll be hearing why, in health terms, sitting is the new smoking! We're also taking a look at the science behind weight loss and why shedding extra pounds is so difficult. Plus news of why colds really do prefer the cold, why most of the world's fossil fuels need to stay in the ground if we're to meet climate change targets, and home from home: how scientists have discovered Earth's twin, deep in outer space... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Dissolving teaspoons, plants that sunbathe, stopping multiple sclerosis, the ARGO floats that monitor the oceans, global warming in Antarctica, and using computers to find Kiwis. Chris Smith and Simon Morton meet some of Wellington's finest researchers, including nanoscientist Nicola Gaston, plant scientist Jason Wargent, MS specialist Anne La Flamme, ocean scientist Philip Sutton, climate researcher Tim Naish and computer scientist Ed Abraham... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

We all have an inner voice. Most of us know they're not real. But, for up to 15% of the population at some points in their lives, they can take on a different tone, as a terrifying experience that cannot be distinguished from reality. Where do they come from, and what do they say to sufferers? And how can the symptoms be treated? In this special guest episode, the Wellcome Trust's Chris Chapman hears the stories of schizophrenics affected by voices and explores a new approach to giving sufferers control over their experiences... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Seasons Greetings from the Naked Scientists! We invite you to spend the next hour with us as we explore the Science of Christmas. We'll be looking at why crackers are, or aren't, all that funny, the chemistry of Christmas and what makes the ultimate roast dinner as well as whether wine really is the best medicine. Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Mass Extinction! 250 million years ago nearly all life on Earth ended. Back from the brink, history then repeated itself with the disappearance of the dinosaurs 60 million years ago. So are we next? Plus news of how a comet smash could have kick-started life on Earth, whether e-cigarettes are safe, and why science and medical reporting in the media might be untrustworthy... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

From the honking of cars to music blaring out of someone's bedroom window, the world around us is saturated with sound. But what exactly is sound, and how do we hear it? From mimicking an owl's wing for quieter aircraft to creating more effective cochlear implants and the science of opera singing, our panel of experts turn up the volume to 11 to answer your questions on anything audible... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week we delve into the Dark Web, a hidden arm of the Internet where Google doesn't dare to search and where drugs, guns and hitmen are offered up for sale. We explore how the World Wide Web works, and ask whether it can remain unregulated, free and open as it is now? Plus, in the news this week, the worm found lurking in a patient's brain, how scientists have grown pain nerves in a Petri dish, and what do dogs hear when we speak to them? Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Travel by air has increased by over 60% in the last decade and annual global air traffic is expected to reach 3.6 billion passenger journeys by 2016 meaning that there are at least 1 million people airborne aboard planes at any moment in time. But, as air traffic grows, so do concerns about smuggling and security. So keeping people safe is a major priority; but the processes can be intrusive and can also cause unpleasant delays at airports. This week we're looking at how technology - both old and new - can help to alleviate the hold ups and improve safety. Plus, in the news, the science behind... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Ebola has rocked the world in 2014, but why has this outbreak been so devastating? This week we get inside Ebola to find out about the virus itself, and how it causes disease and spreads. We talk to healthcare and charity workers on the ground in West Africa to find out how what is being done to stem the epidemic; we catch up on progress towards a vaccine and we hear how the virus is also crippling gorilla populations. Plus, in the news, the latest on the Rosetta mission to comet 67P-Churyumov-Gerasimenko and how Wikipedia can reveal what diseases are circulating and where... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

This week, the latest breakthroughs in cancer including blood tests to pick up the disease much earlier, new genetic treatments to trigger tumours to kill themselves, and a laser technique to zap cancers in hard-to-reach places. Plus, in the news, why working the night shift can curb your intellect, a super-enzyme that could cut millions off energy bills and the gut bacteria that keep you trim... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists